recapping our breaking news tonight, two separate man hunts involved in south bay. on our broadcast tonight, damage control. a late day surprise appearance tonight by the president as the white house faces problems on three fronts. among them, the benghazi e-mails. our first look at what's in them. the source of so much controversy. what was really going on in the hours after that attack? also tonight, out of control. explosive allegations raising new concerns at the pentagon about the rise in sexual assaults in the american military, as another man in charge of stopping them is now facing an investigation of his own. and her choice. the public disclosure by angelina jolie that she's undergone a double mastectomy is raising a lot of questions across the country tonight. dr. nancy snyderman has some answers. dr. nancy snyderman has some answers. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. this has been a day of attempted damage control at the white house. as the obama administration is now facing a rare confluence of problems right now. a very imperfect storm of three big problems all at the same time. you've got the federal government going after reporters' phone records, the irs targeting certain people and groups because of their conservative politics, and there is always what went on during and after the attack on our consulate in benghazi in libya on september 11th of this past year. in the way only the white house can try to do to move the news agenda with the release of information, release they did. earlier today a slew of e-mails on one of these topics from the height of the benghazi drama while the president emerged late today to take on one of the

other troubles -- this one involving the irs. for his part he announced the departure of the boss, the acting irs commissioner. here's part of the president's remarks in the east room just minutes ago. >> the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. it's inexcusable and americans are right to be angry about it and i am angry about it. i will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially in the irs given the power that it has and the reach that it has in all of our lives. as i said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you're from, the fact of the matter is that the irs has to operate with absolute integrity. >> again, that was at 6:20 eastern time earlier tonight, an uncommon time to come on the air with a special report, remarks from the president. then again they don't usually have this confluence of problems.

on two of their three problems they acted today and our team has been looking into all three. we'll hear from all of them here tonight. we are happy to have our political director, chief white house correspondent chuck todd here with us in our new york studios for this day. so on the irs because they saw this one could cut through and perhaps be most damaging they presented the president. >> that's right. that's why it's the one topic he spoke on today. didn't talk about the benghazi e-mails. they think that's a partisan fight, already been litigated politically and it's a fight with house republicans. on going after the press, they know the media isn't very popular with the public. they know they have a problem with the media, but it was the irs scandal. this is a confidence in government issue. this is a president who wants to implement a health care law, this is a president that wants to pass immigration reform. if you lose the confidence of the public that the irs can't do its job properly it's going to be easy for republicans to say, if the government can't get the

irs right how do you think they will get your health care right? they can't get the irs right, how are they going to protect the border? this is something they are very nervous about. that's why you saw a publically angry president. you will see them try to find a big figure to replace to become the new irs commissioner. maybe it's a republican. maybe it's a top cop kind of guy, a military guy. they know they need to fix the credibility because that one could sting. >> our senior correspondent has been looking into this irs topic. the irs not a popular agency already. their job is to take our money, collect taxes. people hate the thought that it is being used for political purposes. conjures up for some of us of a certain age all kinds of bad memories. question to you is how deep do you think this goes? what came out today? >> well, i suspect we are just getting started on this. too much of what the irs initially told us was incomplete or has proven to be wrong. i think the republicans will be

emboldened now that the irs commissioner has been forced out. house speaker john boehner began the day today saying he believed that laws were broken. he said, my question isn't who is going to resign. my question is who is going to jail over this scandal? now the irs continues to blame the targeting of conservatives and a few rogue employees in h the cincinnati office which handles applications for tax exempt status. sources say the irs commissioner told them two employees there have been disciplined. but a veteran lawyer told us today that this problem was not limited to cincinnati, that her clients who were also targeted received letters as well from california and even from washington, d.c. now, the attorney general has tried to take the initiative by promising congress a nationwide investigation to see if employees broke the law. >> is your investigation going

to go beyond cincinnati, beyond ohio? is it going to be a national investigation? >> yes, it would. the facts will take us wherever they take us. it will not be only one city. we'll go wherever the facts lead us. this is something that we will base -- at least at the beginning stages we are basing it in washington. and that way i think we can have a better impact nationwide. >> brian, at last count we have four congressional investigations. >> lisa, we keep hearing cincinnati in connection with the irs. correct me if i'm wrong. that is because if you apply for tax-free status, the mail you send to the irs, that application goes to their cincinnati office, correct? >> you're absolutely correct. in fact, that is the main office for handling applications for tax exempt status. there are other offices that may have tangential involvement and certainly headquarters has some say, but most of the action occurs there in cincinnati. >> all right. lisa myers in our d.c. newsroom. lisa, thanks.

across town we go to the white house lawn for another front and that was the release of information today on benghazi. peter alexander with us. peter, let's go back. september 11th of this past year. firefight rages for hours. four americans are dead including our ambassador in benghazi. we now know it mattered greatly what the administration said about this, what they knew versus what they said. we were, after all, in the midst of a presidential campaign. >> reporter: that's why the white house put these 100 benghazi e-mails out late this evening. they say they show exactly what the administration has been asserting all along. the e-mails show exchanges between the white house, state department and cia as they worked to prepare talking points for the house intelligence committee. the same talking points that would be used by u.n. ambassador susan rice when she went on the sunday morning news programs that following sunday. republicans have criticized the

administration for scrubbing talking points to remove references to al qaeda. they insist to protect the president in the final months of the presidential campaign when one of mr. obama's key themes throughout had been that al qaeda is on the run. in this afternoon's briefing a senior administration official insisted no one had perfect knowledge of exactly what happened at that time and that they didn't want to prejudice the fbi investigation that was then under way. let me show you one of these e-mails then written by the cia that writes i know there is a hurry to get this out, but we need to hold it long enough to ascertain whether providing it conflicts with express instructions from other agencies that in light of the criminal investigation we are not to generate statements with assessments as to who did this, et cetera, even internally not to mention for public release. brian, a senior administration official maintains that there was no pressure from the white house or the state department to put into those final talking points what they proactively,

they insist, revised. >> peter alexander at the white house on the benghazi front. our thanks to all three correspondents for starting us off. now across the river at the pentagon, disturbing new revelation that another military service member in charge of dealing with the problem of sexual assaults is accused instead of committing them. this time it is a u.s. army sergeant first class out of ft. hood, texas, and the allegations are just the latest in this long string of sexual assault scandals that has so many people wondering what's wrong with the current culture inside the military. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski from the pentagon tonight with more. jim, good evening. >> reporter: brian, late today government officials told nbc news that army investigators found this latest sex scandal in texas may be bigger than originally thought and that others may be involved. this latest sexual assault scandal broke at ft. hood,

texas. military sources tell nbc news an army investigation found that the soldier in charge of sexual assault prevention, an army sergeant first class allegedly coerced a female soldier into prostitution. two other female soldiers refused to participate. one was allegedly sexual assaulted. just last week, air force lieutenant colonel jeff krusinski was arrested and charged with sexual battery for allegedly molesting a woman near the pentagon. lawmakers on capitol hill are outraged. >> the very person that is supposed to be there to protect you in the military is found to be abusing women. how can any woman in the military say that i have a safe place to turn? >> reporter: defense secretary chuck hagel ordered that some 9,000 military officials involved in sexual assault prevention be rescreened and retrained. but the pentagon's latest report shows sexual assault in the military is out of control. the estimated number of sexual

assaults last year soared from 19,000 to 26,000. most of those go unreported. the victims remain silent fearing the male-dominated military culture and justice system is stacked against them. >> the next thing i remember is being on the ground in the bathroom. he was holding me down and sodomizing me. at that point, i was just -- crying and begging him to stop. >> reporter: former marine claire russe au told "rock center" after she was assaulted by a marine captain, marine commanders tried to keep her from pursuing legal action. her attacker was convicted in a civilian, not a military court. >> the only thing that makes my story extraordinary is i got justice. >> reporter: there is a bill before congress that would take sexual assault cases out of the immediate chain of command and hand them to a special prosecutor. even if that bill passes,

officials here are not the least bit optimistic that the sexual assault numbers in the military will come down any time soon. brian? >> jim miklaszewski, another bad development in this ongoing issue at the pentagon. jim, thanks. now on this busy night we turn to health news and how it entered the american conversation this week, specifically with the very personal, very public disclosure by angelina jolie that she's undergone a double mastectomy after a test revealed she had a rare gene mutation that greatly increased her risk of developing breast cancer. 87%. as well as ovarian cancer, the disease that killed her mother. a lot of women have been asking in these past 24 hours what about that second step -- removal of the ovaries because of the risk of ovarian cancer? our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman happens to be attending a genetics conference in san diego and is with us tonight with answers on the issue. nancy, good evening. >> reporter: good evening,

brian. you're right. it's been the buzz even in the medical community because the risk of ovarian cancer is real. 50% more than women who don't have the mutation of the brca-1 gene. in fact, sometimes doctors recommend to women they start with an ovarian removal before they worry about breast cancer because there is no screening test for ovarian cancer which is why the survival rates are so low. in this case, it's likely that for most women who are facing the same situation, ovaries can be removed endoscopically. it's outpatient surgery. whether or not the uterus is removed with it really depends on a woman's choice. this is usually recommended for women who have this severe mutation, family history and they are past their child-bearing age. a combination of really looking at genetics as part of this new wave of personalized medicine. brian? >> dr. nancy snyderman on this

story that's in our news this week. nancy, thanks. still ahead for us as our broadcast continues, surprising results in another front in the war on cancer, specifically a new treatment that allows your body to work as a weapon and attack the cancer from within. and later, the quietest place in our country. imagine living in a town where cell phones, wifi just aren't allowed because of the local business.

as we mentioned, important, very encouraging news in the fight against cancer.

specifically here, melanoma. far too common and it can be far too deadly when it is not caught in time. a new treatment approach is getting excellent results we are told and could be used to fight all kinds of different cancers. we get our report on this tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> there it is. nicely done. >> reporter: mary elizabeth williams is 47. in 2010 she got a diagnosis of stage four melanoma that had spread through her body. >> it was the beginning of the school year for my kids. suddenly i didn't know if i was going to be there for the end of the school year. >> reporter: williams got a new therapy that worked so well in a few months her doctor gave her few months her doctor gave her the best possible news. >> he told me that my cancer was completely gone. i was so stunned and surprised. >> reporter: unlike chemotherapy which directly kills cancer cells, immunotherapy works on white blood cells called killer t-cells that devour bacteria and viruses. cancer cells put up a chemical shield to protect against

t-cells. immunotherapy breaks down that shield and the t-cells go to work. the first such drug, yervoy, helps 10 to 15% of advanced melanoma patients. in the this latest study, doctors combined yervoy with a second experimental drug that hits a different target on the t-cells allowing them to kill more cancer. >> i'm tremendously excited. we are seeing more than half of patients having significant regressions of their advanced melanoma. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: it's not just melanoma. because of similar drugs david gobin has seen his lung cancer disappear. >> i can do a lot of things i couldn't before. >> reporter: and ken kirkwood's kidney cancer is gone. many researchers believe this is the beginning of one of the most promising eras ever in cancer research. treating, even curing significant numbers of patients in an entirely new way. many similar experimental drugs are being tested and other combinations could work better. the drugs have side effects and

will be very expensive there is no doubt they will save many lives. robert bazell, nbc news, new york. when we come back another all american day for a prince.

it's going to be closed a long time but at least they have completed the scaffolding all the way to the top of the washington monument. we got a special and not for the faint of heart helmetcam view of the topping off today, 500 feet above the earth. this is all because of the damage from the freak 2011 earthquake. now begins the biggest caulking job in modern history as so many chip, gaps and stress cracks have to be repaired. it is the tallest freestanding stone structure in the world. climate change is feared to be the culprit behind visible melting of glaciers of mount everest. resulting in the reduction of the frozen layer around the mountain of 13%, they say, in the last 50 years. put another way, the snow line has moved 590 vertical feet. the researchers presenting these

findings at a conference today suspect human-generated greenhouse gases are to blame. prince harry today was in familiar form and in luxurious surroundings in greenwich, connecticut, for a polo match. the proceeds benefitting the charity he runs in africa. he actually proved just as adept at baseball in harlem yesterday, getting a solid hit at bat. having spent the day at the jersey shore before that his week-long trip to america has been a truly american experience. when we come back here tonight imagine living in a place where cell phones are against the law, where silence is the rule because staying quiet benefits the local industry.

finally tonight we are going to take you to a place that's proudly in the middle of nowhere. it's how they like it. you can see it on google earth. they have turned their magnificently quiet valley into a plus. it's the perfect place to listen in on outer space. that means they need everyone to stay quiet while folks do their

work. nbc's kevin tibbles has our report tonight from green bank, west virginia. >> reporter: shh. listening to the heavens requires silence. in today's noisy world tiny green bank, west virginia, is the perfect spot for the national radio astronomy observatory. is this the quietest place in america? >> i would venture to say that yes, it is. >> reporter: the green bank radio telescope or gbt is the largest in the world. it hears what's going on in space. big enough to fit a 60,000-seat football stadium in the palm of its hand. >> we have been able to peer back with the gbt to just after the big bang. >> reporter: to listen deep into the seemingly infinite reaches of our universe you need a very big ear and a very quiet place. just don't look down while you're doing it. they take quiet so seriously it's the law. no cell phones, wifi, or other transmitters for miles around. >> there's something.

>> reporter: there is even a radio policeman patrolling for interference coming from something as simple as an electric blanket. chuck knight politely asks folks to knock it off. >> we have to live with these people, too. we don't need to be making enemies left and right. >> reporter: extraneous noise means karen o'neil might miss the next big bang. >> it's a one-time deal. if somebody was running around with a cell phone or nintendo we would have lost that opportunity. >> reporter: at the general store bob ex -- ervin and son donny say they don't miss cell phones. >> my wife uses hers occasionally once we get out of here. >> reporter: and you? >> no. >> reporter: there is one lonely pay phone in town for visitors to make calls. still, people understand the serious work being done by their giant neighbor across town. >> you start thinking about how do new stars get there? why are they there? where did they come from?

that leads you to where did i come from? >> reporter: should they ever find the answers to the mysteries of the universe, well, that would be something to shout about. kevin tibbles, nbc news, green bank, west virginia. great story to end on for our wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. with breaking news. >> thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. we are following two breaking news stories. the first is a triple stabbing. police say the victims are a woman and two children. it is our understanding these are two little kids both under the age of 5. this happened on a home on viewmont avenue. investigators are doing yard to yard searches for a suspect and they are telling people to stay indoors and avoid the area. joining us now on the phone is

kris sanchez there in the neighborhood. she just arrived on the scene. what are you hearing from police at this point? >> reporter: we are talking to the santa clara county sheriff spokesperson. he just gave us brand new information saying that the officers from santa clara police, santa clara sheriff's department and san jose police are going door to door looking for a person of interest, a man by the name of reuben ramirez, about 210 pounds. black hair and brown eyes. they are asking anyone in the neighborhood to stay inside and if they see anything suspicious this is a man that they would like to talk with. they are not calling him a suspect. they are not calling him a killer. what they are saying is that he lives in the home where the three victims were found and he has not been located. i have the update on the victims. when the person who lives in the homeiv